The 36 "dawgs" scattered across Clarke and Oconee counties are a tourist attraction, and will even be the subject of a coffee table book due out by the end of the year, said Ford, a member of the Athens-Oconee Junior Woman's Club who first put up the statues, along with colleague Julie Walters, two years ago this month.

"It creates a lot of good will for Athens and the art community," Ford said.

The dogs originally were created to raise money for charity, and will continue that purpose Monday at the Run With the Dawgs race, where participants will jog past seven statues along a downtown route. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., and the money raised will go to non-profit groups that help victims of sexual assault.

While the dawgs serve a good cause, in light of recent debates over what some see as sidewalk clutter and others see as charming character, others have a different opinion.

To Danna Lea, owner of For the Art of It All, the statues are a symbol of the county government's hypocrisy.

Lea, whose frog statues in front of her downtown Athens store are about as famous as the bulldogs, recently moved one of the frogs to her home in response to a proposed ordinance banning most merchandise displays from downtown sidewalks. She plans to sell the other to a non-downtown retailer.

"I think it should be 'Go frogs!' instead of 'Go dawgs!' " Lea said.

Although it's not clear that the ordinance would ban the frogs, Lea said officials are sending a message that only certain types of art or creativity are welcome.

"It's disturbing to me that they can pick and choose what they want," she said.

The fiberglass fidos can stay up because the Athens-Clarke Commission specifically approved them, Mayor Heidi Davison said. An agreement between the woman's club and the county government lasts until July 2006. It could be renewed, but Davison and Ford said they haven't discussed it yet.

No one has complained about the bulldogs to Davison or to Athens Downtown Development Authority assistant director Paul Featheringill, they said, but Davison said she hears plenty of positive comments about them - especially "Georgia Dawgs," the music-themed statue on the corner of East Washington Street and College Avenue outside Athens City Hall.

"A lot of people like them," she said. "I routinely see families with small children come look at them or take their pictures with them."

Both local residents and tourists often call or e-mail the woman's club to ask about the bulldogs, Ford said. Despite their popularity, only one new dog, at Robin Federal Credit Union on Atlanta Highway, is scheduled to be unleashed in the near future.